Unreal corkers

January 7, 2022 8:29 AM

In the 1700s, there was a vogue for carving fantastically exact models of ancient buildings in cork. Sir John Soane's Museum in London maintains a large collection of cork models, including an 8 foot square Pompeii; the ruins are depicted exactly as they were in 1820, in an early phase of excavation. The Museum offers a 3D virtual tour, which means you can view models of models of buildings within a model of building.

Tangential:
-Cork in architecture
-A non-cork model of Cork

posted by Iridic (17 comments total)

Oooooh this is neat, thank you!
posted by an octopus IRL at 8:43 AM on January 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

The Soane Museum is amazing. Went there around 20 years ago. It's a wealthy dude's house in central London (kind of a row house, IIRC). The guy was an eccentric super-collector. Inside is cramped and completely overflowing with art and objects. He ran out of wall space for paintings, so many of the walls are multi-layered; huge hinged panels that can be opened to reveal layer after layer of framed paintings. I don't specifically remember the cork models, but that's likely because there's just so much stuff inside that it's a complete spectacle.

Highly recommend a visit if you go to London.
posted by SoberHighland at 8:59 AM on January 7, 2022 [8 favorites]

I remember lots of plaster casts of sculptures and paintings by Hogarth, though it's been 40 years since I was last there. Along with the Linley Sambourne House, it's on my list of unusual things to do in London.
posted by Bee'sWing at 9:14 AM on January 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

…and if you think these are impressive, you should see the wine bottles!
posted by leotrotsky at 9:25 AM on January 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

Watch this on a big screen, if you have the opportunity.
posted by mhoye at 9:47 AM on January 7, 2022

The last time I was in the UK, I was in London for like two days. I stayed in a hotel on the same square as Sir John Soane’s museum, I looked it up, and thought “huh, could be neat”, and then spent the one day of the two that it was open doing other stuff. Still miffed at myself about that.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:21 AM on January 7, 2022

These are cool and I am totally bookmarking this and putting it in my folder full of interesting details to mention when writing historical romance novels.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:25 AM on January 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

Awesome. Have been kicking myself for not visiting it while in London. Glad there's a 3D tour:

Where would you like to begin your journey?

Model room

Sepulchral chamber

Decisions, decisions...
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:36 AM on January 7, 2022

In the just before times [2018] I was visiting with m'daughter in Cork and, because some of her arty pals were part of Team Ingot, we went to see a model of the River Lee being cast in iron by Tamsie Ringler - hot work.

Me, I'm embarrassed to report that I confuse Sir Hans "collector" Sloane [of the Square] d. 1753 with Sir John "collector" Soane b. 1753.
posted by BobTheScientist at 11:24 AM on January 7, 2022

Holy crap, this is great!
posted by y2karl at 11:39 AM on January 7, 2022

The Soane house breakfast room is one of the few perfect spaces that exist on earth. I was last there 25 years ago but if I close my eyes I can still visualize it perfectly.
posted by q*ben at 12:38 PM on January 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

Also good: the V&A's Cast Courts. Like these cork models but life-size!
posted by BungaDunga at 12:55 PM on January 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

That museum is my favourite museum in London and possibly the world.
I took a man there once and he did not like it and I should have dumped him there and then.
These cork models are so cool.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 1:24 PM on January 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

Ha, the cork model room in the Soane museum was dismantled after its first existence and now exists based on measurements and drawings of its original self. A 1-1 model.

How wonderful they must have been when travel was hard and people were so curious. Still delightful!
posted by clew at 1:32 PM on January 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

This is exactly the sort of thing I come here for.
posted by brachiopod at 7:09 PM on January 7, 2022

92-year-old Montgomery County artist uses 2,000 wine corks to recreate the Eiffel Tower — while battling leukemia. ...A 7½-foot-tall Eiffel Tower made of wine corks. Across nine months, Deuschle has used a Swiss Army knife to chisel nearly 2,000 corks, holding each inch-long cylinder between weathered fingers and turning them into building blocks., Grace Dickinson, The Philadelphia Enquirer, Sep 27, 2020.

[Previously] A Huntingdon Valley retiree used 7,300 corks to recreate Disney’s Cinderella Castle — Huntingdon Valley's Walter Deuschle, a 90-year-old chef-turned-artist, spent more than two years carving thousands of corks to create a massive, ornate replica of Disney World's Cinderella Castle, complete with stained glass walls, electric lighting and Mickey Mouse figurines., Grace Dickinson, The Philadelphia Enquirer, Dec 21, 2018.

Human creativity never ceases to amaze.
posted by cenoxo at 7:35 PM on January 7, 2022

Chinese Cork Carving History and Value at China Art Lover (more examples on their Pinterest board).
posted by cenoxo at 8:01 PM on January 7, 2022 [1 favorite]